eldomtom2

23 pages and no mention of the WHR's Russell as cut down for use on the Ffestiniog? Absolutely hideous (though this picture obscures the true horror of the dome), especially considering the attractiveness of the engine as originally built, and to top it off the mutilation was pointless as the clearances on the Ffestiniog were still too tight.

And the completely inexplicable addition of "Thomas the Tank Engine" to the title! Also "all the major items appear to be there" - very reassuring for £5000!

Returning to the start of the thread, a close inspection of the model locomotive in Top Secret shows it to be a 4-6-0, so not a 9F.

It actually appears to be some sort of scale hybrid, judging by how inaccurately small the cab is.

I thought Japan used 1/80 scale for their HO gauge models, because Japan uses 3ft 6in track?

On the coarse-scale subject, I have recently been wondering if there's a market for "coarse-scale" OO - something like Dublo, but built to run on modern track. I think there is potential for a range that prioritizes durability and reliability above all else.

D stock (in both LU and NR guises) Class 374 Austerity 2-10-0 NER H/LNER Y7 Kiston-Still Steam-Diesel

There have been experiments in America using biomass as a fuel for steam locos, which seems a more practical solution.

My confusion was in thinking that the pins on the other were fixed to the buffer.

Not the last time Tri-ang models would be used in Gerry Anderson productions - a number of OO gauge models including the Caley Single appear in Thunderbird 6 and a variety of Big Big trains appear in the Secret Service episode Last Train to Bufflers Halt, alongside more stock footage.

There appear to be appear to be two different types of couplings described as "link-and-pin" in use on British narrow gauge railways. The first, seen here on the Leighton Buzzard's 10-12-D, appears to be similar to the infamous American type, with a tube fitting in holes in the couplings and then held in with separate pins. The second, seen here on one of the Ffestiniog's ex-WD wagons, appears to essentially reverse the principles of the first coupling - here vertically mounted external pins are fixed to a single centre buffer and then coupled using a separate metal loop.

When inflation is taken into account, the Hornby 0-4-0s are of comparable price, and considering recent changes to the motors make them acceptable slow runners, perhaps the answer has been staring us in the face the whole time? (Now if only they'd produce the 0F and 101 in prototypical liveries...)

If you're into modifying RTR stock, you can always get Stroudley coaches by repainting and detailing Bachmann's "Red Coaches" from their Thomas range...

Everything I can see says they were about 2 feet high, which seems about right looking at the images.

Returning to Gerry Anderson as mentioned at the beginning, any discussion of railway models in his works would have to include the Whistle Stop Inn of Thunderbird 6: